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2014.12.18 Meeting Notes
Happy New Year Crime & Beyonders. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. I just realized that I didn’t write a report of our December meeting and party. I think it’s safe to say a good time was had by all. Everyone brought great food to share, and Ray poured quite a few drinks. I think he’s hired permanently as bartender (haven’t broken this to him yet, so shhhh). Kudos to Lorraine for best presentation. The photos will be up on Wiki soon (meaning as soon as I can find them and get them to Webmaster Jeff) but I’ll try and describe what she did. She made sandwiches, and each had a toothpicked sign on it for each of the ten soldier boys. They were color printed with a soldier on front and the line from the poem on the back, along with the number signifying their order of death. Very creative and very cool. We discussed the book that we read for December, which was And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. The majority of club members liked the book, but a few were very confused. We figured out that some of the books were missing a last chapter, or postscript. In this, the author included a letter that was written by the killer and sent out to sea in a bottle. It really explained a lot of unanswered questions, and anyone who read the book without it was quite confused. Here is a link to the Wiki site that explains what was included in the Postscript. And Then There Were None - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sharon did some research on the book, since the author was already known to us. This book was widely considered Agatha Christie’s masterpiece. It had several different titles over the years (and in the UK versus USA). It is her best-selling novel, having sold over 100 million copies, which also earned it a place as one of the best-selling books of all time. The story has been adapted for the stage, television, and film. So if you’re interested you can check out one of the movies that were made over the years. I swear I remembered seeing one that starred Sylvester Stallone’s brother, and thanks to IMDB I verified that there was a movie called Ten Little Indians, out in 1989, in which Frank Stallone played Captain Lombard. I don’t know that I would recommend that one, though. The gift exchange went sort of tamely, although there was some cutthroat stealing and several items were stolen enough to be retired from play. We laughed a lot and my throat hurt the next day from trying to talk over everyone. The book rounds went equally well, and I am so glad that Jose went home with the 2 cozy mysteries that he hoped to get. Great job Jose. I think you got the book flask too, didn’t you? If so, I think a little nip of something might be in order before you dive into the cozy world. The biggest surprise of the night was when Jeff won the Christmas Quiz. I know, you’re all saying “get out” and “no way” as you read this, but it’s true. He won a book of short stories written in homage to Sherlock Holmes. Many of the individual stories were signed by the author. He also won an Agatha Christie tote bag, and was heard to say something to the effect of “I’m glad I won a tote bag, I needed something to carry all of my loot home.” I believe I heard a slap right after, but I saw nothing and can’t be called as a witness. I was very proud of this year’s swag. Everyone present received a Crime & Beyond coaster with our logo on it, as well as a bloody ball ornament. This was a Christmas ornament that looked like it had blood spatter on it. I found these on Etsy and thought them extremely appropriate for this group. I am creating a 3 foot tree for my library/foyer for next year. It’s a Crime Scene Christmas Tree and I’ve made small bloody balls and wrapped the tree in crime scene police tape (as garland). I’m in the process of making the tree skirt out of fabric with fingerprints all over it. The photos will be on the Mystery Playground blog in July for the Christmas in July crafts posts. We had an ornament exchange as well. I have a great new Santa for my tree, courtesy of Denise and Dennis. Thanks guys! And thanks to everyone who came and made the party so much fun. Kerry